Rep Range for Mass

[iron addict]

Lots of bodybuilders are really confused about how many sets to do, what TUT should be and how many lifts to do to add mass. Part of the confusion is because the BB'er uses pretty horrendous sources of information such as muscle magazines, or some of the forums where in realty, the average poster is a 16-22 year old kid that is just parroting what the last parrot said. And to make matters worse, everyone does respond different so what works for good old Fred may be totally unsuitable for Joe.

Some good common sense advice comes from Chad Waterbury, who recommends simply doing 24-50 total REPS per muscle group for optimal mass gains. When I read this the first time I compared it to my frequently prescribed sets and reps for lifters and realized he was right on the money IMO.

Now if you are working primarily on strength, you can go lower and still get a good amount of size to go along with it, and in many cases, this is preferred as attaining a solid strength foundation should be what the beginning and intermediate trainee focuses on initially, but even with that said, the 24-50 rep guideline works very well indeed for a good percentage of the lifters out there for both size and strength gains.

Iron Addict

[pumpharder]

meh, do what works for you, thats what I always say, you may grow off 25-50 reps but I sure as hell wouldnt, to each his own.

[DaPit26]

I stay from 1-6 reps. All my maxes are close to state records right now. This extremely low rep range is key for power and mass. For guys looking to add size, WSB or DC methods and Metal Miltia all have awesome routines. West side, can't beat it!

[liftsiron]

By trail and error I have determined that I need a few more reps per bodypart than most trainers. Still I do about 1/3 the reps and sets that the skinny kids in the gym do.

[ronb]

50 reps is a bit high. is that per week or per session. lactic acid build up would stop my ass cold but then again why not try it for a change up.

[liftsiron]

50 reps is a bit high. is that per week or per session. lactic acid build up would stop my ass cold but then again why not try it for a change up.

That's per session like five sets 10 reps each.

[DADAWG]

50 reps is a bit high. is that per week or per session. lactic acid build up would stop my ass cold but then again why not try it for a change up.

thats probablly also the total for all the excercises for that bodypart and not just 1 excercise
example
5x5 incline bench and 5x5 db presses = 50 reps

[liftsiron]

thats probablly also the total for all the excercises for that bodypart and not just 1 excercise
example
5x5 incline bench and 5x5 db presses = 50 reps

yup!

[ronb]

The way this was worded i wasn't sure which way it meant. that makes more sense. I have heard people doing rediculous reps like 40 at a time. The HIIT system i think had a high rep range. i haven't seen much on that in a while so i don't remember the exact count. i think it was 15 - 20. it's monday and i left my mind at home

[DADAWG]

im as guilty as the next guy of throwing in a high rep set at the end of the workout every once in a while just to " pump " up . for some reason its usually on chest/tri day and i will walk over to the cable machine and rep out tricep pushdowns till i cant do another , for some reason my triceps pump up better than anything else .

[ronb]

if it works why not do it. this is such an individual thing that reading and trying as many approaches as possible can only help.

[CO-B16]

damn, i do around 30 reps per exersice.....normally 12,10,8 while packing on more weight each set....which means for say chest day i do 150 reps or so for chest....can this be right???? i do flat bench, incline bench, flat flys, incline flys and dips.....decent chest workout, right??? overkill????

[liftsiron]

damn, i do around 30 reps per exersice.....normally 12,10,8 while packing on more weight each set....which means for say chest day i do 150 reps or so for chest....can this be right???? i do flat bench, incline bench, flat flys, incline flys and dips.....decent chest workout, right??? overkill????

I need to do at least that many reps per bodypart, otherwise I'm undertrained.

[CO-B16]

I need to do at least that many reps per bodypart, otherwise I'm undertrained.

i know, most think i undertrain because im in the gym for around an hour, but i feel my workouts are solid and meet somewhere in the middle of overtraining and undertraining.....so 25-50 reps per bodypart would leave me feeling very very undertrained......

[liftsiron]

You can get plenty of work done in an hour.